Monday 26 March 2012 10.51 EDT
First published on Monday 26 March 2012 10.51 EDT

Am I the only person who finds the fact there are 122 driving licence holders over the age of 100, including three 105-year-olds and one 106-year-old, absolutely terrifying?

The number of drivers over the age of 80 has now topped 1 million, according to DVLA figures obtained by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), and the gap between the youngest driving licence holder and the oldest is 90 years. These numbers will only increase, as according to the Office for National Statistics more than 95,000 people aged 65 in 2012 will reach their 100th birthday in 2047, while a third of babies born this year are expected to do the same.

The commercial arm of charity AgeUK, AgeUK Enterprises, sells car insurance to four centegenarians and argues that drivers should be judged on their ability, not their age.

It says there is a chain of responsibility to determine whether someone is fit to drive, which includes opticians, GPs, police, relatives and the DVLA, before they can even apply for car insurance. Gordon Morris, managing director of AgeUK Enterprises, says it will continue offering insurance quotes to older drivers so long as they have a licence and no serious convictions such as driving without a licence or dangerous driving.

The DVLA does not require letters or certificates confirming an applicant's fitness to drive from a GP or optician unless a response to one of the questions prompts further investigation. Nor does the applicant have to undergo any kind of driving test unless they have indicated a problem that might affect their ability to drive.

A spokesman for the DVLA said third parties – GPs, opticians, police, friends and relatives – can report their concerns to the licencing organisation if they are worried that an older person should not be driving. But this won't always result in someone losing their licence: the spokesman himself reported a relative to the DVLA, and that relative is still driving today.

Undoubtedly, that relative will have been tested subsequently to make sure they are still safe on the roads. But would you rather trust a one-off test or the opinion of a concerned relative who has witnessed the older driver in action on repeated occasions?

AgeUK revealed the information about its older drivers following publication of a report from the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport (Pact), which calls for a national strategy for the ageing car driving population.

The report, It's my choice, reveals that 30 years ago only one in three men and one in 20 women aged 70 or more held a driving licence; today, three out of four men and one in three women aged 70 or more are licenced to drive. That in itself is not a bad thing – being able to drive gives many older people independence and enables them to continue living by themselves for longer.

But road accident figures collated by the Department for Transport indicate that older drivers are at higher risk of being killed or seriously injured as a result of being in a car accident than any age group other than the young.

While 0.33 per thousand licence holders aged 80 and over were killed or seriously injured in 2010, 0.98 per thousand for the 17- to 19-year-old group and 0.45 per thousand for those aged 20 to 24 suffered a similar fate. This compares to 0.26 per thousand for 25- to 29-year-olds, 0.16 for 30- to 39-year-olds, 0.11 of 40- to 59-year-olds and 0.09 of 60- to 69-year-olds.

The Pact report suggests driving should be made as safe as possible for as long as possible through increased awareness, self-assessment and a national standard course available to all older drivers.

IAM chief executive Simon Best agrees: "Older people need their cars, which give them better mobility and access to more activities and services. Those who wish to continue driving beyond the age of 70 should only be prevented from doing so if there are compelling reasons.

"Rather than seeking to prevent older people from driving, we should make them more aware of the risks they face and offer them driving assessments to help them eliminate bad habits. Driving helps older people play a full and active part in society."

Not if it kills them.

Are you an older driver or are you the relative of an older driver? Do you think the requirements to continue holding a licence are stringent enough? Should the government take action to increase road safety given the increasing number of older drivers, or are things fine as they are?